European Ryder Cup heroes Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick are among a strong field set to tee it up at this week's Open de France.
Le Golf National, the venue of the 2018 Ryder Cup, returns as host after a year's rest, and Fleetwood looks set to go off as favourite.
However, the continent's top stars were outshone by former US Open champion JJ Spaun at last week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, and another American, Ryan Gerard, looks capable of pushing them all the way this week.
Open de France Tips Summary
Best Bet - Ryan Gerard each-way @ 14/1
Alternative Bet - Eugenio Chacarra each-way @ 20/1
Alternative Bet - Jeff Winther each-way @ 40/1
Open de France Prediction
Best Bet - Ryan Gerard each-way @ 14/1
The Open de France remains one of the most high-profile events on the DP World Tour, and after Spaun's success in Surrey, another American could take the honours this week on the outskirts of Paris.
Ryan Gerard has stormed up the world rankings to 23, only a year after earning his PGA Tour card and there are strong signs that the 27-year-old could prove one of the game's rising stars.
He won the low-profile Barracuda Championship in his first season and built on that this year by losing in a play-off at the Memorial, then finishing third at the Tour Championship.
And, importantly for this week, his strong performances have not been restricted to his Stateside efforts as his European showings have been decent too.
He fell off the pace on the final day to finish ninth at The Open after being right in the mix at Royal Birkdale, and he was 27th at Wentworth despite starting with rounds of 67-65, so it looks like a case of knitting it all together.
Gerard is an all-round excellent operator who deserves to be considered a big contender for an event like this and he could come out on top on his course debut.
Alternative Bet - Eugenio Chacarra each-way @ 20/1
Spain's Eugenio Chacarra has no course experience to fall back on this week, but he is the sort of quality tee-to-green player who should flourish at Le Golf National.
He has already tasted DPWT success this year following June victories at the KLM Open and the Italian Open and his fourth spot at the European Masters was also a strong result.
Placing 21st at Wentworth was no disgrace and he should be able to force his way into the picture come Sunday.
Alternative Bet - Jeff Winther each-way @ 40/1
Jeff Winther had a career highlight when he won his home event, the Danish Championship, just over a month ago and there is a lot to like about his chances of pulling off another success this week.
He missed the cut at the British Masters following that triumph but has got back into the groove with decent placings in the Irish Open (23rd) and at the BMW PGA Championship last week (15th).
Those results show he is not afraid to mix it with the cream of European talent, and he should be inspired by his excellent form at Le Golf National, where he finished runner-up in both 2023 and 2024 while also claiming eighth spot in 2022.
Key Tournament Stats
Thomas Levet was the last home winner of the Open de France in 2011
Six of the last seven renewals of the Open de France have been settled by a one-shot margin
Marcel Siem, Tommy Fleetwood, Guido Migliozzi, Dan Bradbury and Michael Kim are the course winners taking part this week
Former US Open winner and world number four Matt Fitzpatrick is the highest-ranked player taking part this week
Kim and Migliozzi hold the 72-hole course record with 268 shots
Five of the last 12 champions topped the final leaderboard with a single-figure-under-par total
Read more golf betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
